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[scottmason]

I'm hosting 2-night workshops this summer for the new moon of each month in Lakeside, Michigan. It should be a nice, dark spot.

The first night I will be helping people get started with focusing in the dark, long exposures, and finally tracking for astrophotos.

The second night will be hosted by an astronomer. I have one so far but I need another to take the dates he can't take. The astronomer's role will be to take the group down to Lake Michigan (just a stone's throw from the workshop studio) and give the a tour of the night sky. Then we will end the night with more imaging.

Here are the dates:

May 11,12
June 8, 9
July 6, 7
Aug 11, 12 (Perseid meteor shower)

The astronomer nights will be May 12, June 9, July 6, and August 12.

If you are interested in either signing up for the workshop or hosting the second night, send me a private message or email me at [e-mail]

DSLR or a camera with long exposure capability is required to take the course.

[Centaur]

Anyone concerned about scheduling star parties or workshops when the Moon is out may want to take note of my diagram below. It illustrates the brightness of the Moon relative to its elongation from the Sun. The readings stop at 178.5° because greater elongations would only occur during a lunar eclipse.

It's not just a greater fraction of disk illumination that makes a Full Moon so bright. Direct reflection and a lack of shadowing greatly increase the brightness of a Full Moon. A crescent Moon is quite dim and hardly interferes with deep sky objects, yet the Moon is something that newcomers (and we old guys) enjoy seeing through a telescope.

Scott, I wish you well with your project.

[patrickm]

Very cool Scott. Sent you a DM.